I'm going to a job fair on Saturday for student science writers. After education, career goal, science writing experience, research experience, and newspaper experience, I have one inch left. Whew.

Now I need a conclusion. I usually list my interests, and so far I've been hired by people so it seems to work. People are always like, "I saw on your resume you're a violinist! That's awesome!" It seems to give people something to establish common ground with me. But is a line of interests a professional ending?

I could say "References available upon request," but that would be a little ridiculous because I'm supposed to bring a copy of my references separately to this fair.

Should I say that classic line anyway? Or interests? Or a little square like at the end of a magazine article? "The End"?

In my day, a self-drawn Larsen-style cartoon was considered obligatory (It was im possible to find a real one they hadn't seen) Some fields had specific formal equivalents (e.g. cartoons by TAB for TiBS [Trends in Biochemical Sciences])

Resumes give me nightmares as there really isn't a set standard in how to format them. Sometimes you put your education first, sometimes it's you employment history, or it could be something else. Objective statements are no longer used or wanted now. It can be agggravating because you can't use the same formatted resume for all the jobs you are applying for even if they are similar. I found this out the hard way. And then there is the lovely challenge of trying to use the right key-words that employers are looking for. All this (and more), plus trying to create a piece that will make you look good and stand out from the rest is just so very unpleasant to do over and over again. And, of course, the whole point of it all is to essentially sell yourself. This is partly why I went to work for myself. Unfortunately, that hasn't worked out so well no thanks to an ailing economy. So, the resume writing has come back to haunt me as well. And we haven't even gotten to the cover letter part.

Hope you go the answers you were looking for, Lyric of Delphi, and best of luck to you.

Very consistent advice is don't say "References available upon request" because people expect that anyway. Interests, hobbies, awards, or something else relevant to the job is best.

Good luck!

"Any dolt with half a brain/Can see that humankind has gone insane
To the point where I don't know if I'll upset the status quo
If I throw poison in the water main..."
- Billy (aka Dr. Horrible) in My Eyes from the AWESOME Dr. Horrible's SingAlong Blog

Yeah, most definitely don't like a second page. And though my CV hasn't fit on one page in my adult life, I can see why they don't.

It's been almost 30 years since my first time wading through a stack of resumes, and though I diligently sorted them in stacks graded A, B, C, D, F and "show this one around the office as a good laugh", only the As ever got a second look. An employer wants the best candidate (or at least among the best), and though some candidates might have done surprisingly well in the job, most of my sorting was really just a sign of respect to the B's, who I felt deserved better than to share a pile with the F's.

On a purely rational basis, I should have sorted out a folder for "further consideration" and a big pile for "sorry!".

Don't get me wrong. I think the entire hiring process is a travesty (and most studies agree), but it does suggest that the best approach is a targeted resume, with a strong BRIEF first section that basically explains "Why I am an A". Alas, a lot of bosses (or whatever peon is forced to do the initial screening) are basically working by a crude checklist, and may not even look at a nonstandard opening section. (Which is just one reason the process generally sucks)

I personally think a slightly nonstandard resume (a tasteful background image or better paper stock) helps, but some clerical minds may subconsciously seek reasons to weed out those "inconvenients". I tell myself that I probably wouldn't be happy working in such a department anyway, but I know that it's often the office drone who gets that task, when (or because) everyone else is cool.

^I can buy that. Since when can any lawyer keep anything to just one page anyway? lol. I kid, I kid.

I think Orpheus is right, though I find "C" and "D" piles to be useless. Good paper is a must, but more and more often jobs are posted online and require resume's to be submitted electronically now. The new peon's are scanning computers looking for key-words and do the sorting for whoever get's what the system thinks are the best prospects. It's gotten worse, not better, unfortunately.